When Jeff Teague went down with a left knee injury on Dec. 27, he was initially given the “out indefinitely” demarcation. On Dec. 28 — after x-rays came back negative for structural damage — the injury outlook was far more positive; grade-one knee sprain, out two to four weeks.
This means Teague will be missing somewhere between eight and 16 games over the next month.
Personally, when estimating Teague’s return, I am inclined to believe four weeks is more likely to be the timetable. I feel this way given how two other injuries were handled by the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this season.
- Nemanja Bjelica suffered an ankle sprain on November 22nd and was immediately given the “day-to-day” label. A distinction he kept for 32 straight days, sidelining him for 15 games.
- Teague also missed four games in eight days in late November with achilles soreness. Similar to Bjelica, Teague was labeled as day-to-day by Tom Thibodeau for eight straight days.
Those two injuries lead me to believe one of two things is happening: Either the Minnesota training staff is implementing extreme caution with injuries or the vagaries of those injuries are being used as a tactic to benefit the team in some sort of smoke and mirrors routine.
Even if Teague expedites his recovery the immediate future is Teague-less. And with that comes point guard questions.
Replacing Teague In The Starting Lineup? No Problem
When Teague has been healthy (31 games), backup Tyus Jones has averaged 13.8 minutes per game. In the seven games Teague has missed with the achilles and, now, the knee, Jones has taken the full-load of starter minutes — averaging 34.4 per game.
Teague and Jones are very different players; both assets in their own right and the team has found success with both. The Wolves are 20-11 with Teague and 4-3 without him.
Stylistically, the most discernable distinction is the frequency in which Teague holds possession of the ball compared to Jones. For the better and the worse, Teague is a ball dominant point guard; Jones is not.
Through this, Jones does not provide the same scoring punch as Teague but creates positive externalities elsewhere. Meander down the plus-minus column on Jones’ basketball-reference page and you will find an overwhelming majority of positive results in his game log — a rarity amongst Wolves bench players.
If there is one element to explain this it is his ability to protect the ball. This season, Jones has the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio of rotation players in the NBA.
There’s a sense of safety when the ball is in the 21-year-old’s hands. He runs the point with wild and discerning eyes, tending to find passing lanes before the defense is able to recognize that lane is an option.
But Jones isn’t completely risk-averse as a distributor. If the situation calls for aggression he obliges deliberately.
His ability to score is underscored by the 5.7 points per game he is averaging as a starter since Teague’s knee sprain. Much like his passing game, Jones brings the same hesitance to difficult shots but he does have the ability to attack when the possession demands it.
At maybe six-feet tall, his aptitude in attacking the rim is impressive. Jones is shooting 75 percent in the restricted area, per NBA.com/stats.
His attacks profile as a ball of energy directed at the sternum of rim-defenders so as to create space to get the shot off. Jones may lead the league in crashing into the stanchion of the basket. When he goes, he goes.
In the next month, concerns at the point guard position should not be directed Jones’ way. The backup to the backup is the issue.
Who Is The Backup Point Guard?
Who that “backup” will be remains a bit ambiguous. With Jones off the floor, Jimmy Butler, Jamal Crawford, and Aaron Brooks have all received reps.
In the first game Teague missed, Jones started the game and played Teague’s normal first quarter shift; eight minutes. When Jones checked out, Jimmy Butler stayed in — the whole quarter — and took on the ball-handling duties. But when Butler finally checked out 13 minutes into the game things got messy.
Brooks at the point wasn’t only bad; it was awkward.
On one of Brooks’ first possessions, Tom Thibodeau was yelling “Jamal, Jamal” at Brooks but Crawford was too far off the ball to go get it.
After a brief second of uncomfortable eye-contact between Brooks (who had the ball) and his coach, Brooks attempted to create and almost immediately turned the ball over.
The next possession wasn’t any better with Crawford at the helm. After instigating the offense, Crawford threw a jump-pass that was promptly intercepted by Eric Bledsoe.
After three minutes and thirty-four seconds, Thibodeau had seen enough of the Crawford-Brooks pairing and he pulled Brooks. For the rest of the game, Jones and Butler managed the ball-handling.
Brooks’ missteps in that first Milwaukee game appear to have been forgiven, he played 21 minutes against Indiana and 14 against Los Angeles. Things have not improved. Brooks has accrued negative point differentials in both blowout wins by the Wolves while tallying more total turnovers than points.
This has inspired some (warranted) trepidations around Brooks’ role.
The already weak bench cannot afford to consistently play a negative contributor. If Brooks continues to play the 14 minutes per game that belonged to Jones when Teague was healthy a first-world basketball problem is beginning to form.
That’s if Brooks does not improve.
Is Brooks Cooked?
The issue I see with Brooks is that he is the inverse of Jones as a point guard but is being asked to mirror Jones’ game. For every ounce of precision Jones plays with, Brooks is whimsical. He always has been. If the veteran tries to be what Jones was, he’s going to continue to fail.
Finding a way to tap into the Brooks of seasons ago feels like a bit of pipedream considering what we have seen but at 32-years-old it’s not impossible Brooks still has juice left. At the very least, he has substantial experience in playing the role of microwavable point guard.
He also has specific experience in a situation similar to what is happening in Minnesota.
In the summer of 2013, Brooks signed with the Houston Rockets to be the third-string point guard behind Jeremy Lin and Patrick Beverley. In late November of that season, Lin went down with a sprained right knee injury that sidelined him for 25 days. Brooks went from playing nothing but garbage minutes into a 23 minute per game role.
Brooks thrived in that role, inspiring a Bleacher Report article titled “Don’t Look Now, but Aaron Brooks Is a Valuable Houston Rockets Player Again.”
Shortly after Lin returned, Beverley hurt his knee and Brooks maintained his role off the bench. He was an important piece in the Rockets going 54-28 and finishing the season as the four-seed in the Western Conference.
The obvious difference here is age. Brooks was 28 then, and at 32 years old he physically may not be able to duplicate that play anymore. These first three games without Teague certainly merit this idea. Again, Brooks has been awful.
But I will say, physically, I don’t see him having lost a step.
In brief flashes, the speed has still appeared to be there. That speed coupled with a three-point stroke — Brooks has hovered between 36 and 39 percent from 3 each of the past five seasons — has been how Brooks has historically found spurts of success in his career.
But the way he is being utilized in Minnesota does not favor those skills. Alongside Crawford, Brooks is often relegated to the corner essentially spotting up and watching. This may feel safe and even wise as it mitigates his propensity to turn the ball over and highlights his ability to shoot, but it just doesn’t look comfortable for Brooks.
It would be nice to see him in a more ball-dominant role with the freedom he found success in earlier on in his career. In 2015-16 (the not so distant past), Brooks was on the Chicago Bulls — with Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson — receiving heavy minutes in lieu of the oft-injured Derrick Rose.
The Bulls used Brooks differently. He was allowed to pound the ball more and was a staple of their high pick-and-roll action with Pau Gasol.
Throughout his career, many of Brooks’ shot attempts were funky like this horizontally-fading pull-up but it’s this type of play — weirdly enough — that Brooks seems to find comfort in. He relishes the funk.
And it’s not totally crazy. Pick-and-roll highlights those two most discernable skills of his; speed and shooting. If the opponent switches the ball-screen, Brooks can use that speed to create space on a big man and pull up.
Brooks has never been a classic point guard; he’s a shooting guard trapped in a point guards body. Rather than forcing a square peg into a circular hole, I believe Brooks — if he is going to play — would be better served with freedom.
Aaron Brooks isn’t a “good” point guard in the grand scheme of the NBA. Like almost every player in the NBA, he has flaws. And at a minimum salary, having multiple warts isn’t only acceptable, it’s the expectation.
Thus far, Brooks has allowed those warts to be highlighted through trying to emulate his inner-Tyus Jones that doesn’t exist. Perhaps, with what will be a consistent role this month, Brooks can stop being a poor man’s Jones and instead be a version of himself when he filled in for Lin and Beverley in Houston.
13 Games In 23 Days
Of course, with Teague out, the best option is riding Jones heavily and stealing minutes with Butler when you can. But starting with Brooklyn on Wednesday night, the Wolves have 13 games in the next 23 days. Every minute the team can survive without a starter on the floor will be a coup.
And thus: passable Brooks play is of even more value.
Perhaps extended and consistent run will allow Brooks to drop the Thibs-robot routine he has been running this season. If it works, it probably won’t be pretty like Tyus but that whimsical playstyle has found situational success throughout a career of negative metrics.
A month of situational success from Brooks would be a boon for a Minnesota team that is broadly clicking on all cylinders.
Listen to Dane on Wolves Wired!
